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He grins. “This can be our little secret, Luna.”
I try to jump off the bed. I'll gladly take endless darkness over whatever he promises. But he’s there in an instant, blocking my only way out. I can’t see his body, but I feel countless pairs of hands wrapping around my arms and my legs. They pin me to the bed and splay me open.
“Look at me," he snarls.
“I can’t!” I wail, fighting against the shadows.
A hand grips my chin, forcing my eyes up. “Look at me!”
Suddenly, Akim is standing above me. One side of his face is gone, pulverized and dripping blood down his neck.
He bends over me, his ruined mouth reaching for my skin…
I wake up screaming. There are hands on my arms and I desperately swat them away.
“Luna! It’s okay. I’m here.”
For one second, I think it’s Yakov. He’s here. I’m safe.
Then I see Mariya leaning over me. Her face is creased in concern and she’s shaking me. “Are you okay?”
Embarrassment burns in my cheeks as I sit up. “I’m okay. I’m sorry I woke you up. It was just a dream.”
Mariya sits on the edge of the bed. “Based on the screaming, it was either a very good dream or it wasn’t a dream at all.”
“The latter,” I grumble.
“In that case…” Mariya leaves the room. I hear her moving around the kitchenette. A second later, she returns with a glass of water. “Drink this.”
I take it happily. My throat is parched. “Is this some kind of nightmare cure?”
“I wish, but no. It's just filtered water. I take my job as your watcher very seriously. You need to stay hydrated for the twins and crying can really zap the moisture right out of you.”
I swipe at my cheeks, realizing there are tears there.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Mariya asks softly.
I sag back against the headboard. “It’s the same stupid nightmare every time. Well, not the same. The details change, but the heart of it is the same: Akim or one of his men slip into my cell in the dark and…”
“Did they touch you?” Mariya’s voice is so quiet I almost can’t hear it.
“They tried,” I tell her. “The only reason one of them didn’t is because Yakov showed up. He pulled the guy off of me. I got so incredibly lucky, but I can’t seem to get my brain to stop playing the What If game. What if Yakov hadn’t come for me? What if he’d shown up five minutes later?”
Mariya grabs my hand. “But he did come for you and he didn’t show up five minutes later. He kept you safe. He is still keeping you safe.”
“I know. I’m so grateful to him for that. It’s just hard to relax now that I know what kind of evil exists out there. It’s hard to go to sleep at night knowing there are people in the world who would torture and kill me just to get back at Yakov.” I squeeze my eyes closed as another tear slips down my cheek. “If they’d do that to me, what would they be willing to do to our children?”
“Nothing,” Mariya says sharply. “No one is going to do anything to the babies. Yakov won’t let that happen. None of us would. No one is going to hurt you or the twins.”
I give her a tight smile, tears blurring my vision. “I know you have my back, Mariya. You’ve proven that more than enough times. But you can’t really promise me something like that. No one can.”
Mariya meets my eyes, but she doesn’t say anything.
Deep down, she knows I’m right.
I trust Yakov with my life, but that doesn’t mean mistakes can’t happen. All it would take is one slip-up—one oversight—and I could be dead. Me, the kids. Yakov, even.
He knows it as well as I do, even if he won’t say it. Yakov saw his father die in front of him. He knows how quickly it can happen. One second is all it would take for my entire world to slip through my fingers.
